Canny Laporte slams the lid on French expectations

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Five months after wrecking England's grand slam ambitions in Dublin, Ireland will next week have the opportunity to make partial amends to Clive Woodward, who was unable to hide his utter desolation that day, by gatecrashing France's party in Paris next week.

The French are on course for their third slam in six years - England have gone seven seasons without one - and only the Irish stand in their way. Victory at the Stade de France would almost certainly hand a third successive championship to the men in white.

While Woodward has never hidden his ambition, the France coach Bernard Laporte preaches modesty, implying his side's success against England earlier this month was a victory for humility over hubris.

"The match against Ireland is not about the grand slam but our performance," he said here after his side's victory against Scotland.

It was achieved despite an arrogant attitude at the start when they threw the ball around in their own half and would have been 13-0 down after 14 minutes but for a despairing tackle on the centre James McLaren a yard from the line and a missed Brendan Laney penalty.

"We can do no more than look to our next game," said the centre Tony Marsh who followed his two tries in Cardiff last month with another brace on Saturday to maintain his 100% record in a French jersey with seven victories out of seven. "We are not at the stage yet when we can put pressure on ourselves." England are always under grand slam pressure.

Are France ahead of England by right? "Yes," said the Scotland coach Ian McGeechan, whose side lost to England 29-3 at Murrayfield in the Six Nations last month. "They are two totally different sides but the table does not lie.

"France put us under more sustained pressure than England did and it was as well for us that we played a lot better than we had against the English. France have pace, defensive organisation and belief in themselves. Their discipline has improved immeasurably under Laporte and they have some outstanding young players. I rated them before the start of the championship because of what they had achieved in the autumn and I am not surprised they are one victory away from the grand slam."

France conceded only six penalties on Saturday, the result of Laporte's influence rather than a reflection of the French club game, according to the Scotland and Castres outside half Gregor Townsend.

"Their discipline is surprising because matches in France are littered with penalties," he said. "I am surprised they are in contention for the slam because they started the campaign slowly with unconvincing victories over Italy and Wales but they have built up momentum and could go on to become the best side in the world.

"I felt that England were not as strong against us as New Zealand had been a couple of months before and France have enough to take them through against Ireland: the pressure will be on them but their discipline is now so good they should be able to handle it."

Laporte is not so sure. "We have lost our last two matches against Ireland," he said. "The players are tired and they have some big club games next weekend. I would like them to rest, but I am not the decider."

The Irish will be fresh and in the strange position where, having yorked England last October, they are now going into bat for them.